“The image of God is the married couple. The image of God is there with us; it is represented by this alliance between a man and a woman.” The Pope said that, at today’s audience, he was concluding his series of catechesis dedicated to the sacraments, by focusing on the sacrament of marriage, which “leads us into the heart of God's plan, a plan of alliance, of communion.” “The image of God is the married couple,” began the Pope, who gave the catechesis almost entirely impromptu: “Not only the male, not only the man, but both of them.” Towards the beginning of the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, at the highpoint of the story of creation, it is said―the Pope recalled―that “God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him: male and female he created ... For this reason, a man will leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” “We are created to love as a reflection of God and of His love―the Pope commented―, and, in the conjugal union, the man and the woman fulfill this vocation in the sign of reciprocity and full communion of life forever.”
“Marriage is an icon of God's love.” This was said by the Pope, who, in the catechesis at today's general audience, explained that “when a man and a woman celebrate the sacrament of marriage, God, so to speak, is reflected in them, marks them with His features and the indelible character of His love.” “The Bible is strong, when it says: one flesh―the Pope noted―; the union is between man and woman in marriage is that intimate, and this precisely is the mystery of marriage: the love of God is reflected in marriage, in the couple that decides to live together. Therefore a man leaves his parents' house, goes to live with his wife, and unites himself with her so strongly that they become one flesh.” Then, the Holy Father mentioned the Letter to the Ephesians in order to explain how “marriage responds to a specific vocation and should be considered a consecration.” “Marriage is a consecration; men and women are consecrated in this love,” the Pope repeated, in accordance with which “the bride and the groom, in virtue of the sacrament, are invested with a real mission, so that they can make visible, through very simple and ordinary things, the love with which Christ loves his Church.”
